An Impressive Survival Skill

While I was reading a Survival Skills book by Royal Marines Commandos, I came across a page on how to make a poncho float! I read it and found it very interesting! I think you should read it too!

How To Treat A Scorpion Sting

There are at least 1,500 scorpion species, and only 25 of them produce a venom that causes serious harm to adult humans. However, any scorpion sting has the potential to cause an allergic reaction, which can be dangerous in its own right. Even if you have identified the species and know it is harmless, treat the wound and be prepared to call emergency services if you feel any symptoms besides pain and slight swelling. Here are some steps you can take to treat a scorpion sting.

1.       Call Emergency Services if necessary.

2.       Call the poison centre for advice.

3.       Describe the victim over the telephone.

4.       Describe the scorpion to the medical assistance over the telephone.

5.       Find someone to monitor the victim and take them to a hospital if necessary.

If you are stung at home, here are some steps you can take to treat it manually.

1.       Be alert for serious symptoms such as:

     1.       Vomiting, sweating, drooling, or foaming at the mouth.

     2.       Involuntary urination or excretion (peeing or pooing).

     3.       Thrashing or twitching muscles, including involuntary head, neck, or eye movements, or difficulty walking.

     4.       Accelerated or irregular heart rate.

     5.       Difficulty breathing, swallowing, speaking, or seeing.

     6.       Severe swelling from an allergic reaction.

2.       Find the sting location.

3.       Wash the sting area with soap and water.

4.       Keep the injury area still and below heart level.

5.       Calm the victim.

6.       Apply a cold pack or ice to the sting area.

7.       Take non-prescription painkillers to reduce pain.

8.       Provide first aid if necessary.

9.       Check in with a doctor.

 

Asian Forest Scorpion or Black Scorpion, one of Singapore's native scorpions

Lizard Rescue!

A few months back, as I was walking home from school, I came across 3 Primary 1 students from SAJS poking something with a stick. I decided to see what they were poking and to my horror, it was an innocent lizard! I told the boys off and carefully picked him up. He didn't struggle or put up a fight at all. That was not a good sign. I noticed he had many injuries. Serious ones too. He was missing scales everywhere, he was bleeding and the worst part was that he had a rubber band tied around his tail! I felt very sorry for the lizard - those boys were cruel to abuse him like that. 

I knew he would not be able to survive if left in the wild. He would be easy prey for birds. So I decided to take him home and try and nurse him back to health. 

We have a little garden in the common corridor just outside my flat. I figured he would be safe there because nobody could hurt him and he would not run far anyway because of his injuries. I fed him crickets and worms everyday. 

Look at him now! This is about 6 weeks later. However, he still has a dent in his tail left by the rubber band but other than that, he is looking happy and healthy. Maybe a little plump.

The recovered lizard. Still no name though. 

I think he's happy I found him and I'm happy I rescued him. It's pretty cool to have a living fossil in my garden!

Favourite quotes

Today my Mom and I were talking about our favourite quotes. She shared with me the 2 she loves best.

The first one is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: 

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever."  

I like that quote; I thought it was a wise way to live your life. My Mom is always trying to learn new things.

Her second favourite quote is one I really love! And I thought it was funny because it came from Yoda!

This is very true! You DO NOT TRY your best, you DO your best no matter what!

This made me think about finding a few quotes to inspire me...

Here's a couple that do and I hope they inspire you too.

Lessons from the Japanese Occupation in Singapore

During the school holidays, I worked with my group on our Oral History Project. We interviewed my grandfather, Mr David Tharmaraj Row, 82. We asked him questions about the war in Singapore, the separation of Singapore from Malaya and post-independent Singapore. He shared many experiences with us - you can view the full interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9oRKappIco.

But I also remember other war stories he told me when I was younger.
One frightening story was about how a Japanese soldier almost cut off his finger with a sword when he caught Kong-Kong stealing an egg. The Japanese soldiers terrified the people of Singapore and beatings and torture was not uncommon. Kong-Kong himself was even given a tight slap across the face once for forgetting to bow to a Japanese soldier.

Kong-Kong and Mama, my grandmother, also told me about Mrs Elizabeth Choy, Singapore's War Heroine. We knew her because Mama used to work with Mrs Choy at The School For The Blind. Uncle Ian was also a student at St. Andrew's Secondary School when Mrs Choy was a teacher there.

Mrs Choy was tortured by the Japanese because she helped the British and prisoners at Changi. All of them were not allowed to talk or move from their cross-legged seating position. Although they were not allowed to speak, they continued to communicate through sign language.


Mrs. Choy was subjected to beatings by the Japanese officers and was even electrocuted in front of her husband. The Japanese tried to force her into giving out the names of informants or admitting that she was anti-Japanese. After 193 days, the Japanese finally released her from prison, after learning that they would never get the 'confession' that they wanted out of her. She was released the day after her husband was sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment on 25th May 1944.
                                         
We used to visit Mrs Choy in her home when I was a toddler. I wish I had a chance to speak with her. From the stories I heard and read from my grandparents, I know she was a very courageous person and a forgiving person. Did you know that even at the War Crimes Tribunal, when she was given a chance to name her torturers, she never revealed any names saying  she condemned war and not the people who tortured her?

2 games, 2 lessons

Today in scouts, we had a combined event with the NPCC. We learnt to draw maps. Mr Shamir told us that there are 4 important things to remember when drawing a map: Grids, Legends, Orientation and Population. My group's map was quite good. The second activity was to answer scout related questions while my group was holding spars. It was quite fun! We learnt that teamwork is key to success!

A Good Deed

During the June Holidays, while I was walking back from playing with my friends at a field, I saw this old lady trying to pull a huge basket of newspapers. I offered helped her out by pulling the basket for her. The old lady looked stunned but accepted my help.

After I helped her, she thanked me profusely. I felt happy that I could help out and yet sad for when she thanked me like that, she really must have needed help. I hope I don't turn out like that one day...
I learnt that day that helping out other people makes you feel great! That's when I realised the way to happiness isn't money, but to give help!

The Power Of Prayer

During the holidays, friends and family started to fall sick one by one.

Charlie, my Uncle Ian's pet cat fell sick. My friend Bryan had to go for an operation and his mum came down with a high fever. My Auntie Jackie and my pet lizard, Thor, fell sick as well.

Charlie the cat

Thor is the one on my nose. The one on my hand is Jaller

All I could do was pray. My family prayed for their recovery. We felt hopeful and comforted when we prayed for them. Sure enough, everyone recovered except Thor. He passed away on Wednesday, July 8th. I felt happy for the people who recovered but sad for Thor. I felt I had done my best for I nursed Thor to try and get him well again. He has moved on to a better place. This shows how powerful prayers can be.

My Dream Job

Today, I feel as if I had found my dream job: directing a movie.

I was inspired by movies like Godzilla (2014), Transformers and Star Wars. They all had great special effects because of the director. George Lucas, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are a few movie directors that I admire.

They inspired me to make movies like Godzilla 3, AVP 3 and Transformers 5/6.

I know I need to learn these subjects to achieve my goal:*Math( Budget/finance)
                                                                                           *Photography
                                                                                           *Animation
                                                                                           *Physics/Chem
                                                                                           *Visual Arts
                                                                                           *Excellent English
I hope to one day become a famous movie director!


           

Article in newspaper

Today, I read a very heart warming story: A Filipino Boy studies at night outside a McDonalds restaurant.

By Flynn Murphy, Sydney, and AFP9:30AM BST 10 Jul 2015

A homeless Filipino boy has been overwhelmed with aid after a photograph of him studying on the pavement using faint light from a McDonald's outlet went viral on the internet.

Nine-year-old Daniel Cabrera will now be able to fulfil his dream of becoming a policeman after donations of cash, school supplies and a college scholarship poured in, his mother, Christina Espinosa, said on Friday.

"We're overjoyed. I don't know what I will do with all of these blessings," said Ms Espinosa, a 42-year-old grocery store employee and domestic helper. "Now, Daniel will not have to suffer just to finish his studies."

The photograph, posted on Facebook last month by a college student, showed Daniel doing his homework on a wooden stool placed close to a McDonald's window to catch the light from the store.

The 20-year-old medical technology student, Joyce Torrefranca, captioned her Facebook post: "I got inspired by a kid."

It was then shared close to 7,000 times on the social networking site and reported by local television.

Local politician Samuel Pagdilao, of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement & Support (ACT-CIS) party, awarded Daniel an unspecified "scholarship grant", ABS-CBN reported.

The local police force also raised funds and provided groceries for the family.

Ms Espinosa and her three youngest children, including Daniel, have been living in her employer's mini-grocery store since their shanty home was gutted by fire five years ago.

Ms Espinosa said she earned just 80 pesos (£1.14) a day working at the store and as a domestic helper for the store's owners in their nearby home. She augments the income by selling cigarettes and candy on the streets on Mandaue, an urban centre on Cebu island in the central Philippines.

I felt blessed after reading this article. I really made me think why I am not as hard working as he is...

I learnt to thank God for what I have for people like this boy are not as fortunate as we are.

The Exams...

Exams are part and parcel of life. Personally, I think that exams are to measure our level of attentiveness and awareness in class. The outcome, however, does not define one's level of success in life... This semester, I didn't score well. But that won't stop me from trying to achieve success. Next semester, I will hope to improve my grades for class tests and the final year exam. That's why i've put in the effort this June Holidays to study and prepare myself to face exams once again.

These are the things I have done to help myself:

*Set up a calendar and stuck to it.
*Did more 1 on 1 tuition
*Read the Newspaper everyday to keep myself updated and improve my English.
*Did Exam papers to revise what i've learnt from that day.
*Went for lion dance on Saturdays and cycled once in awhile to improve my awareness and attentiveness.

A Late Update...

Sorry I haven't updated the blog yet. This post was meant to be posted last week on a Friday. Anyway, enjoy!  

Today, we had a mini competition. Our challenge was to make the most decorative notice board. My patrol, the Eagle Patrol, got 1st place! Sadly, I don't have the picture of the art 😔.

I brought the paint materials and help our with painting ideas. We had lots of fun. You could say we have a whale of a time!

I am looking forward to the next troop meeting!

Diving for Bobbits...

                                                                  

The terrifying bobbit worm!

During my dive in Bunaken, Manado, Indonesia, I saw all the creatures I wanted to see EXCEPT the Bobbit Worm... However, while I was very disappointed not to have seen my favourite worm, I did see the rare, poisonous blue-ringed octopus, beautiful nudibranches, unusual crabs and I was even attacked by one of the most fast-spearing creatures, the Mantis Shrimp! So the lesson I learnt from this holiday was: things may not always happen as you expect but you should always look on the bright side. I may not have found the worm I was dying to see, but I got a more memorable experience! An awesome attack and a scar to remind me that I had nearly lost a finger.

My arch frienemy...

Me searching for macro life

Shot I took of a blue ringed octopus

Looking forward to my next dive...and my Scouts Advanced Diver Badge! Maybe I'll join the Sea Scouts when I get older! Catfish Patrol, HERE I COME!

Welcome To My Blog!

Welcome to my Scouts Blog! Here I will be sharing my journey in Scouting, events that impacted my life, my thoughts, my discoveries and learning experiences!